Original subtitles

[tense music plays]

I am Dorian Wilkerson, a doctor in epidemiology.

I am a father, husband, and a business owner.

[Cecilie] What impresses people are occupations that we can trust.

We see time and time again that fraudsters will then try to pretend

that they're doctors or successful businessmen.

The Best U Now is one of the very few

Black-owned plastic surgery centers in South Florida.

No one else down in South Florida that is Black-owned

with the same type of certifications.

[Cecilie] These are people that we imagine to be smart and sophisticated.

"I can trust this person."

And they exploit that.

[Brianne] So, here's what we know. He was not a licensed medical doctor.

We know that there was a cease and desist put out for him.

That's huge.

This is insanity to me.

It's time to tell Shareza what we've discovered about Dorian's lies.

Hello. Hi, I'm Brianne Joseph, private investigator. Nice to meet you.

[Shareza] Nice to meet you.

This has got to be a very traumatic experience for you, right?

-It's a lot. It's a lot. -[Brianne] Yeah.

-Is there anywhere we can sit? -[Shareza] We can go outside.

[Brianne] We're gonna just jump right into it.

We've done some digging on Dorian, and this might be hard for you to hear,

but he was never a licensed medical doctor.

[Cecilie] We contacted Emory directly.

-It's all a lie. -What he's put up is a lie.

No. No.

He has degrees. Like, I saw the diplomas.

As a matter of fact, he has diplomas in the office, in his…

He would… He had them hung up in his office on the wall.

Yeah, that's part of the smoke and mirrors of all of this.

Wow.

In 2017, we found out the state of Florida issued a cease and desist for him.

[melancholy music plays]

Did you know about that?

He told me that his ex-girlfriend called the state of Florida on him.

-And said he wasn't licensed in Florida. -Yeah.

There was a lot of things that she was doing and posting online.

There was, like, a vendetta. He said it was completely untrue.

When you're in a marriage with someone, you are going to trust them at their word.

-I didn't think he was lying at that time. -No.

-[Cecilie] And I think that is… -[Brianne] Yeah.

…what is terrible about this.

To find out that all this was just a sham and a lie, and…

-[Brianne] Yeah. -I feel like, you know, I feel betrayed.

-Absolutely. -It's really hurtful.

Like, I was literally sleeping with the enemy.

Like, I was sleeping next to someone who I didn't even know.

I feel disgusted.

-'Cause it goes deep. -[Shareza] Yeah.

-It goes to the consent of a relationship. -[Shareza] Yeah. Yeah.

It's tough.

You know, if it wasn't for my family and my close friends,

I don't know where I would be.

[melancholy music continues]

[Cecilie] A lot of the times we talk about consent when it comes to intimacy.

In these cases, it's like, do you actually know this person?

And that right to that consent is being taken away from you.

You have no idea who this individual is 'cause they've lied about everything.

I mean, I want him in jail. I want him in jail.

I want him to be held accountable and pay for what he's done.

We will back you 100%.

We are working for you, girl. We've got your back.

[dramatic music plays]

[Brianne] We wanted proof Dorian lied to Shareza

to get her to take out the loans, which we have.

But it's hard to get these cases investigated,

particularly when you're married and you run a business together.

We need to find others who can corroborate Shareza's story,

to help us strengthen the case.

[keyboard clacking]

I am now looking at different reviews

that has been made on Best U Now.

What I can see from one of the reviews, it's a doctor mentioned here with Dorian.

They must have worked together at the clinic.

If this doctor would be willing to speak to us, that would be amazing.

He may be able to provide further evidence of Dorian's lies.

[tense music plays]

[Cecilie] Hi, Brianne. I heard back from Dr. Tim.

He's agreed to talk. Can you meet me at the hotel?

[Brianne] Hi, Dr. Tim. How are you?

-Good. How are you today? -[Brianne] Good.

Can you tell us a bit about when you started working with the cosmetic clinic?

I was there for about two years.

I left kind of abruptly. On not-so-great terms.

What was your impression of Dorian when you first met him?

Very charming. Very smart guy.

What's your impression of him now?

Worse.

He was very, very keen on cutting costs and cutting corners everywhere he could,

which is one of the big, uh, problems I had with him.

I was supposed to be paid on Fridays.

He just frequently… just never showed up on Fridays.

This wasn't just me.

This was other doctors. And so this is how he ran his practice.

What was your impression of Shareza?

How much of a part of the clinic was she?

Um, you know, she was there every once in a while.

But she wasn't primarily involved with Best U Now.

She fronted the money. That's what I was told.

Did he do any procedures on any of the patients himself?

No, no. He didn't go that route.

He wore his lab coat and he wore his stethoscope around his neck.

And I can guarantee, he didn't know which end went in his ears.

What was his job there?

He was the practice manager.

He's the one who was responsible for hiring and firing.

But he didn't know how to run a medical practice.

He cut corners so he could make more money

and, uh, keep his expenses down, and somebody paid the ultimate price.

-[Tim] After the death of that patient… -[Brianne] Death? Did you say a death?

[Tim] Death.

A death. An anesthetic-related death.

Patient was being cared for

at the end of the table by somebody totally unqualified in anesthesia.

And they died.

Oh my God. I cannot believe somebody actually died.

Oh my God.

These people…

They were not qualified to do what they were doing.

And now we actual… We have an actual death there.

-Yeah. -[Cecilie] That is horrendous.

[Tim] It's infuriating, frustrating.

You know, things were just chaotic from the top down.

So he's done a lot of bad stuff.

You know, he's a real charmer, but very much a liar.

[foreboding music plays]

[Shareza] The death still kind of haunts me.

It's very difficult to talk about, um…

Because it was Dorian's little cousin.

Like, this young girl was around the same age as my daughters.

She was a mother. She had two children. Um…

During her surgery,

there were some complications that caused her pulse to drop.

Um, she was taken to the local hospital where she was pronounced dead.

[melancholy music plays]

[Shareza] There was an investigation by the Florida Department of Health.

And they've stated that the cause was the anesthesia.

And the doctor that performed the surgery was held liable, not the clinic.

This was a doctor that, um, was hired by Dorian.

And he said,

"Damn, this is really gonna affect the business now."

And I'll never forget that. Like, it was just so, like, so cold.

He was so unbothered. You know, he didn't care.

You know, this is family.

And he did not go to the hospital.

All he cared about was losing business.

This is when I really started questioning my marriage.

That death really impacted me more than I… thought.

I'm… I'm not over it. You know, I still think about it.

I still think about, um, her.

[tense music plays]

[Cecilie] She doesn't even know the man that she was married to.

It's heartbreaking, you know, for her.

'Cause it's many years that she wasted.

And he took so much from her.

I am so angry. There's no repercussions, nothing.

I think he really thinks that he got away now.

We need to find him.

[music intensifies]

[Brianne] We don't know where Dorian is.

It's super important we get eyes on this guy.

If he's still pretending to be a medical doctor,

the police might act more urgently.

Mindy is my investigator that's here on the ground in Atlanta.

I asked her to dig up anything and everything she could.

Hey, Min, what you got?

[Mindy] So some of the documents, I was able to find an address.

And it's a home address.

You found a home address on him?

[Mindy] It was as recent as April. This is good. And this is recent.

[Brianne] Can you send me the address? I need to see where this guy is at.

Hey, Cee, so I'm gonna explain to you what we're doing this morning.

We're gonna set up surveillance on Dorian.

The setup is not ideal for me. There's no street parking here.

So we can't-- We can't get close to this guy's house at all.

So we're gonna have a spotter to say, "Hey, he's coming your way."

Then we'll get the heads-up and get behind him.

Okay. If we then track him, what's the plan then?

Hopefully, we can follow him and figure out maybe he's going to work.

-[Cecilie] Yep. -Maybe he's setting up another scam.

Is he still pretending to be a medical doctor?

So it's just about us getting intel about his activities.

[music fades]

[Brianne] Hey, uh, when Dorian leaves, uh,

go ahead and follow behind him as you give us the heads-up.

[Mindy] Copy that, will do.

[Brianne] We wanna make sure we don't give him an opportunity to burn us.

[tense music plays]

[Brianne] Surveillance requires a lot of patience. It's a waiting game.

[Cecilie] I'm just so curious to what he's up to.

[Brianne] Came all the way to Atlanta for what?

-[Mindy] I have him. -[Cecilie] Oh.

[Mindy] Confirmed, it's him. It's his license plate.

Definitely came whipping around that corner.

Black Cadillac SUV.

[Brianne] That… That was him. Copy. He's directly in front of me.

[Cecilie] Oh, he's doing a U-turn. Does he know he's being followed?

[Brianne] I'm doing a U-turn too.

It's risky, but I can't lose him.

All right, guys. He's going into Chick-fil-A parking lot.

So just meet us at Chick-fil-A. He's going through the drive-through.

All right, he's coming back onto the road, guys.

Shit.

-Go! -[Cecilie] Go, go, go.

Go, go, go.

[Cecilie] He is driving fast.

-[Brianne] He's very fast. -[Cecilie] Wow.

[Brianne] He could be speeding because he's just a speed demon,

or he could be aware that he's being followed.

He's in the far-left lane.

I'm one car behind him. Um, can you guys still see me?

-[Mindy] I don't have a visual on you, no. -[Brianne] Oh shit.

Yeah, he's moving really fast.

You guys are gonna have to hit the gas to catch up with us.

[Cecilie gasps] Oh no, he's… He's taking over there.

Yeah, go with him. Go with him.

-[Cecilie] Follow him. -Go with him. Go with him.

[Brianne] You got eyes on him?

-[Cecilie] Do you have eyes on him? -[Mindy] I do. He got off on the right.

He almost got in an accident.

[Cecilie] Yeah, that was so dangerous.

[Mindy] Bri, do you copy?

[Brianne] Yeah, go ahead.

[Mindy] I've got him going into Georgia State University.

Copy that. Thank you.

-He's going to Georgia State University. -[Cecilie] Wow.

[Brianne] I wonder what he's doing there.

Okay. So, let's see where his car's parked.

-Oh, I think I see it. It's right here. -[Cecilie] Yeah.

[Brianne] Yeah. Looks like it's right here.

-[Brianne] You see it? Yeah, that's him. -[Cecilie] Yeah.

So, I'm gonna go in, take a look around, and see if I can find him.

And if I do, I'll try to engage him and see if he'll talk to me,

and see what he's doing in there.

-[Cecilie] Good luck. -[Brianne] Yes, thank you. All right.

[intriguing music plays]

[Cecilie] Come on, Bri, you can do it.

[Brianne] I can see him. He's coming this way.

-Hi, you work here? -[Dorian] I do.

[Brianne] Where's building, um, CA?

-Oh gosh, now that part I don't. -[Brianne chuckles]

-I thought you said you worked here. -[Dorian] Yes, but in the math department.

How you like it?

[Brianne] I don't even go here. I'm just meeting my sister here.

So she said CA. And I'm like, I don't know where the hell CA is.

[Dorian] Yeah, jeez, I wish I could help you.

[Brianne] Oh Lord. Oh well. All right. Well…

[Dorian] Have a good lunch. Enjoy your sister.

Dr. Wilkerson, nice to meet you, and you are?

[Brianne] My name is Kim.

-[Dorian] Kim. Nice to meet you Kim. -[Brianne] Yeah. It's a pleasure.

-[Dorian] Enjoy. You're beautiful. -[Brianne] Oh, thank you.

I appreciate that. Bye.

[curious music plays]

[Brianne] So Dorian works here.

-Oh my gosh. -[Brianne] Yes.

Great job, Bri.

I didn't expect him to be employed at a university.

[Cecilie] It says here he has a PhD in mathematics from Clark University.

[Brianne] We gotta let Shareza know that he's here. Yeah.

-We're coming for him. Yeah. -[Brianne] Absolutely.

[chimes]

[chimes]

[chimes]

[soft music plays]

-[Cecilie] Hi, Nykki. -Hi.

-[Cecilie] Hi. -Hi.

-Good to see you again. How are you? -[Nykki] You too. I'm good.

[Cecilie] You wanted to talk to us?

[Nykki] Um, yeah. So with everything that's going on…

We had to sell the house. I had to go apartment hunting.

After finding some places that I really liked, I got denied.

And I was like, that's not right. My credit has plummeted tremendously.

After doing a little bit more research,

I noticed that there were open accounts and loans that I'd never seen before.

It's my suspicion that they were opened by my former stepdad.

I actually filed a police report.

And although I didn't get any further, I have it here for you guys.

There are two accounts, $80,000, that are in collections on her credit.

So $80,000 in debt in your name?

Yeah.

I know how he might have got access to my information.

Um, there was one point when he was super adamant

about getting all of our information in one safe place.

And, you know, as a father figure, as the head of the household…

-…at that time, it made sense. -You trusted him.

What's crazy about this case now

is that it's like the entire family he has targeted.

Yeah.

-It's mind-blowing to me. -[Brianne] It's crazy, yeah.

He thinks I'm too weak to do anything about it.

So I'd love the opportunity to come face-to-face with him,

confront him, and get justice.

[ominous music plays]

We can facilitate that for you.

All right. I appreciate that, guys.

[soft music plays]

[Shareza] We are the Wilkersons!

My daughters were extremely affected by this.

You know, having their hearts broken as well.

To see them having to go through this is tough.

That they had to endure this because of

my choice.

The fact that he infiltrated their lives,

is more disappointing than him infiltrating mine.

Because those are, you know, my babies.

The fact that you now have hurt my daughters

in this way,

you really need to pay for this.

[dramatic music plays]

-[Cecilie] So today's the day. -[Brianne] Yes.

And we really feel that it's time for the victims now to speak up.

And I'm very grateful, Nykki,

that you want to meet him and tell him exactly what he's done.

What exactly would you like to say to Dorian?

I wanna tell him that, um, he's been discovered completely.

And I know, we know, exactly who he is

and what his intentions were.

-[Brianne] That's very powerful, honestly. -[Cecilie] Yeah.

[Brianne] So, I did pre-surveillance on Dorian.

We've already identified his pattern.

He typically would go into Building CD, um, which is where his classes are held.

And he goes into this building typically after 12:30.

We know what time he comes, what time leaves.

So we have several opportunities

to put you guys in place to catch him and say what you need to say to him.

I think it's really amazing that Nykki's going to do this today.

To just be, you know, an advocate for us.

And not just for me, but getting closure.

Like, he needs to be stopped. He can never--

We can never let him do this to anyone else.

[tense music plays]

[Cecilie] How are we feeling?

I don't know. Anxious, angry.

Just ready to do it.

-[Brianne] It's about that time. -[Cecilie] I know, let's do it.

[Jnyah] Say what you have to say, and let him go about his business.

-This. -[Nykki] Oh. Are we sitting here?

-Okay. -[Jnyah] Be calm.

[music intensifies]

[Brianne] There he is.

-[Nykki] Okay, let's do this. -[Jnyah] Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.

[Nykki] I see him.

[Brianne] Mr. Wilkerson, you have a minute?

[Cecilie] The girls want to say something to you.

I just wanna know when it's gonna stop.

[Nykki] You came in our lives. You came in our lives and destroyed it.

-[Cecilie] You're not an MD. -[Jnyah] Never have been, never were.

[Cecilie] You're pretending to be a doctor.

-Listen, this is my job. -[Nykki] You stole.

I had your last name, and you cried.

[Jnyah] Changed your last name for exactly what, though?

-That's what my whole thing is. -[Nykki] Were the tears real?

The degrees were fake, but were the tears real?

You know what you do. You've been conning women.

We were the only family you've had.

We loved you genuinely. You've stolen everything.

[Jnyah] Yeah, we cared about you. We did.

[Nykki] And you cried when we changed our name. You put things in my credit.

-In your credit? That's a lie. -[Nykki] Yes, absolutely.

The police-- Listen. You know you're going to jail, right?

[Jnyah] He's gonna get in the car. Just get him by the car.

You're going to jail. I can promise you that.

[Jnyah] Good job.

-[Cecilie] That was amazing, Nykki. -[Nykki] Oh my God.

[Brianne] No, she's fine. They're safe. They're safe. It's over.

Let me get her. She's crying.

[Jnyah] Mommy's right here. Come.

-[Shareza] It's okay. It's okay. -[Nykki sobs]

She was amazing. You did a good job.

[Cecilie] They were amazing.

It's okay.

-It's okay. You got the closure. -You did a good job.

-[Nykki sniffles] -We got him to run away like he was…

Like he did.

-Yeah. -Yeah.

-Did I do good, though? Like… -You did a great job.

[Brianne] You did amazing.

-My heart was pounding so fast. -You did a really good job.

-[Brianne] You should be proud. -Yeah, you did a great job.

[Brianne] That wasn't an easy thing to do.

But you didn't say it and walk away. You stayed with him.

And you ran his ass off the campus.

-[Jnyah] He didn't know which way to go. -No.

[melancholy music plays]

[Brianne] Are you ready to go to the police to present this evidence?

[Nykki] Yes, I am.

[Brianne] I… I really hope that the police look into this.

-[Cecilie] To have some proper evidence. -[Brianne] Yeah.

[Cecilie] It's gonna give her the confidence, you know?

Shareza invested in the business under false pretenses

because Dorian misrepresented himself as a doctor

from the very beginning of their relationship.

Once all of this is finalized, I can put this man 100% behind me.

And I can finally move on with my life, you know, myself and my daughters.

And we can just get our happy back.

[Nykki] Hi. I need to speak to a detective to file a police report.

[officer 1] Okay, um, what it is it about?

-[Nykki] Fraud. -[officer 1] Fraud.

[officer 2] All right, bring me up to speed then.

[melancholy music continues]

-[Brianne] Hi, ladies. -[Nykki] Hi.

-[Cecilie] Hi. -[Brianne] How y'all doing?

-[Nykki] Good. -[Brianne] Good to see you.

-You feeling okay? I know it was a lot. -Yeah.

But you handled it well.

One hundred percent. I'm so proud of you guys.

I feel like I can officially move on, after two years of suppressed emotions

and not knowing how I would react encountering him again.

I think today was the validation I needed to let go.

[Cecilie] Yeah.

I think for me, it's really just about moving on with my life.

You know, closing this out.

But also, it's not just about me.

I pray that those that are afraid to talk,

you know, those that are afraid to share what they've gone through,

understand they don't have to shut up.

[Cecilie] Shareza has been so brave to share her story.

Even though in this case,

the police didn't take any action against Dorian,

she has exposed him for what he is.

It's sometimes impossible,

even with an overwhelming amount of evidence,

to get anyone to go to jail for this.

But, there's justice in getting their faces out,

stopping them in their tracks, that is what we're doing.

Cheers to you guys.

Yes, cheers.

[uplifting music plays]

[suspenseful music plays]

[newsreader 1] Seattle has been rocked after a woman, Sabrina Taylor,

has been arrested for conducting a multi-year fraud scheme.

[newsreader 2] A woman has been found guilty of scamming people

from the comic book scene in Seattle.

[newsreader 3] Taylor has pleaded guilty

to stealing more than $600,000 from acquaintances.

[dramatic music plays]

I have received a message from a male victim, and his name is Aaron.

[Aaron] Hi Cecilie, my ex-girlfriend Sabrina was convicted of fraud by the FBI.

It wasn't until I heard about the case that I realized the scope of what she did.

She stole more than 100K from me.

She lied to me and deceived me.

It nearly destroyed my life.

Please, can you help me? Aaron.

It's extremely rare that we have men coming forward

and wanting to speak on their experience.

From a societal standpoint, a lot of men feel a lot more shame,

or blame themselves even more.

It's not just the financial loss,

it's the hit to their identity, their pride, and the trust in themselves.

[clears throat]

[Cecilie] And because of that, many stay silent.

Before I met Sabrina, I was fairly inexperienced dating.

[soft music plays]

[Aaron] I'm a big nerd, so I went to school to make video games.

And there wasn't a lot of options for dating women.

My biggest thing I was looking for in a girlfriend at that point,

was someone who was into a lot of the same things that I was.

Video games, anime, just nerdiness.

[curious music plays]

[Aaron] I first met Sabrina

after responding to an online personal ad.

[keyboard clacking]

[chimes]

[Aaron] Sabrina and I talked for a few days.

And the following weekend, we ended up having our first date.

I was very attracted to Sabrina when we first met.

She was very lovely.

Had a big, bright smile.

She was very easy to talk to.

We had a lot in common.

Sabrina was working for anime conventions,

comic book conventions,

and that really cemented my attraction to her.

When Sabrina and I met, she was in her last semester or two

at the University of Washington, finishing her double bachelor's,

and she also had an internship for the Gates Foundation.

That, to me, was just so impressive.

She also had ambition to go to med school and be a doctor.

I was extremely excited to be dating someone with big goals.

She made me happy,

and I wanted to see these dreams come true.

[music fades]

[doorbell chiming]

-Hi. Aaron, is it? -[Aaron] Hello.

-[Cecilie] Can I give you a hug? -Of course.

[Cecilie] Oh, thank you for meeting me.

-Thank you for coming out here. -[Cecilie] Yeah. Thank you.

You're actually the first male victim that I've ever spoken to in person.

-Really? Wow. -Yeah.

I have to say, I'm not super surprised by that.

It can really feel like your masculinity is undermined

by getting taken advantage of like this.

The betrayal has really affected me for a very long time.

-It still does, to some degree. -[Cecilie] Yeah.

Did you fall in love with her quickly, would you say?

Extremely.

[romantic music plays]

And it felt very soulmate-like.

Mm.

[chiming]

[Aaron] I think the first time I told her that I loved her

was about a month or so in… to the relationship.

[camera clicks]

[Aaron] We ended up moving in together within a couple of months.

The speed at which she moved in did feel fast at the time,

but I was really in love with her.

So once she moved in, did things change in the relationship?

[Aaron] Because she was a student,

she wouldn't be able to, you know, afford her rent.

I wanted to see her go through med school,

see her graduate.

I was covering all the groceries, all the gas.

-Rent? -[Aaron] Rent.

-Everything. -[Aaron] Yeah, everything.

The idea was kind of like, you know, I'm…

I'm gonna support you now, but the plan is med school.

So obviously, at some point, you're gonna be able to…

you know, contribute equally, at the very least.

It's around this time Sabrina starts bringing up complaints

about back pain and headaches and just general soreness

that didn't correlate with an injury or anything.

So, it was just kind of out of nowhere and coalesced into a MS diagnosis.

What?

-[Cecilie] Horrible disease. -Yeah.

[melancholy music plays]

[Aaron] Sabrina came to me one day and said that

she'd gotten some test results from her doctor.

And she held my hand and looked me in the eyes

and told me that they had diagnosed her with MS.

That's what killed my dad's dad.

I knew that it's only gonna get worse over time.

I was extremely upset.

It broke my heart.

But I wanted to do everything I could to…

be strong for her and support her.

We had all these hopes and dreams of med school and…

a house and maybe kids and…

The MS diagnosis really

threw a lot of those dreams out the window, honestly.

And how did that make you feel in regards to kind of helping supporting her?

It definitely put a lot of pressure on me, um, because I…

You know, I loved her. So I'm gonna… have to step up even more

'cause we only have a certain number of years

before this is gonna get really bad.

[suspenseful music plays]

[Aaron] After Sabrina was diagnosed with MS,

a couple of months later, she lost her job that was providing her health insurance.

I had to pay out of pocket for stuff, for medications, for appointments.

I was spending about 4 or 500 bucks a month,

just on medications.

I would take cash out and give it to her.

I asked her to show me the receipts, but she would just make excuses.

And eventually, I learned to just not ask.

Because of the MS diagnosis, she had difficulty getting a job

because she was extremely limited physically.

We had newly limited financial means.

I asked her to help contribute a little more a few times,

and it really didn't go over well.

Basically, you know, accused of not believing her illnesses

or her limitations on working.

So the onus came back on me to provide everything.

On top of all of the medical stuff, she was a very impulsive shopper.

She would go to high-end makeup stores and buy hundreds of dollars of makeup.

Clothing stores,

and buy clothes every month.

I was doing whatever I could to make sure she never felt the pinch

'cause she was gonna have this significantly shorter life.

So I wanted to make it as easy as I could to live with this diagnosis.

So what did you do to make ends meet?

I was borrowing money from my parents,

borrowing from friends. [inhales]

Skipping lunch, selling everything I owned, basically.

[ominous music plays]

[Aaron] The tactics that Sabrina would use

were life and death of some variety.

Threats of self-harm.

I'm gonna kill myself if you don't get me

this giant chunk of money that she was depending on.

Someone constantly calling you,

threatening to kill themselves if you can't get something for them,

is emotional abuse.

Phone calls took up massive portions of my day,

and directly led to me losing multiple jobs.

'Cause I wasn't getting work done.

If I had to put my anxiety on a ten scale, I was probably at an eleven.

I definitely had suicidal ideations.

I could kill myself.

My insurance would pay out to Sabrina and take care of her,

and then I would just be done.

I'd kill two birds with one stone.

She would be taken care of

and I wouldn't have to deal with it anymore.

[music fades]

Did you understand that it was abuse that you had endured?

It took me a while to really label it as abuse.

-Even though that's what it was. -Mm. Yeah. Did you feel stuck?

-Oh, 100%. -This is… No? Yeah?

I didn't wanna be the one that abandoned the sick girl to die.

Yeah.

That probably went on for about two-and-a-half years of just…

-Two-and-a-half years of pressure. -I start running out of money.

[tense music plays]

At a certain point, I knew I was being taken advantage of.

I knew that I was being exploited,

and that I was the only one that could end it, but I also

wasn't strong enough to yet.

The damage she did to almost every relationship I had.

My career.

My credit. My livelihood. My will to live.

At that point, I finally got to beyond last resort.

I couldn't take it.

The day I finally ended it with Sabrina, I called one of my friends over

to be there to make sure I wouldn't lose my nerve.

[melancholy music plays]

[Aaron] I sat her down in the living room, and I told her, "I'm done."

She kind of glumly nodded,

and I think, she basically just accepted that…

she'd gotten as much out of me as she was gonna get.

And that was it. It was over.

[Cecilie] That was really brave of you.

Like, walking away is one of the hardest things we can do.

Did you ever hear from her again after this?

Not really, but I did get a call from the FBI after I left her.

[frantic music plays]

[Aaron] The FBI told me they were building a case against Sabrina.

It was so horrifying.

I knew I'd been taken advantage of,

but it was then that I realized I had been scammed.

The breadth and the scale of what she had managed to pull off

was dumbfounding.

Almost everything about her was a carefully constructed

pile of lies.

[frantic music continues]

[music ends]